Friday, November 13, 2015

The Great Fireplace Remodel: Planked walls, Beam mantels, Built-out surrounds, and all that jazz.

Who's ready for some eye candy? I finally pulled it together and cleaned up well-enough to snap some photos of the finished fireplace! Well, it's not completely finished. I still need to caulk some seams, but it looks done enough for now. And here it is!

Isn't she lovely? Before I show you any more, let's take a walk down memory lane. This is what the house looked like when we signed our offer papers. Peach. Green marble. Shiny fake yellow brass. But that light! We knew it had potential.

Phase 1 was getting rid of that peach paint and ripping out the carpet. It was brand new and pretty when we moved in, but the dogs trashed it very, very quickly.

Phase 2 ... we have a new laminate floor! And curtains! Those two things alone were a huge improvement, but when I pulled out the fireplace insert to paint over the brass, and then painted over the green marble, the room sky-rocketed out of 1990s and into 2015. The mirror removal was an interesting process, and made me happy that we were planking above the fireplace instead of trying to perfectly repair all of that drywall.

I took measurements and meshed them with the vision I had stored in my brain in order to draw up the plans. Brian made a few adjustments that would make the build more practical for himself along the way.

Brian worked so hard on this project. I am kinda picky about things being just how I planned, and was such a trooper throughout the process. For example, the mantel. I wanted it to look like a beam from the front and sides, and he did a beautiful job!

Eventually I'll share photos and descriptions of the process, but for now, let's all just look at pretty pictures.

I think Brian would say that his hardest task was running all of the wires behind the walls and through the fireplace surround. I think I'm going to paint this old nightstand from Brian's Grandma that will house the electronics. It needs a hole cut in the back so that we can actually put the electronics inside, but that'll happen eventually.

Speaking of things that will happen eventually, we still have some caulking and paint touch-ups to do, but I can live with those for now. Especially because when you stand back, you notice nothing but the beauty of the overall situation.

Having the TV mounted on the wall frees up some floor space. Seating arrangements in this room can sometimes feel tunnel-ish, but with the fireplace finished, the TV above it, and the couch and chairs facing each other, it feels like a cozy place to gather.

It feels lovely. And bright. And cozy. All of the good things! It's so nice to have a space in the house that feels like "us".